Mount Washington

O

old31

Well-known member
For those of you who have driven up Mount Washington, you know what a thrill it is, and how white-knuckled it can be going around some of the turns with sheer cliffs on both sides.

I have had the pleasure of doing it with a modern car many times and with my A one time (never again). If you do 15-20 MPH you are moving.

Watch this guy at speeds of 100 MPH.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/916860428133949
 
I've been up three times on a motorcycle,but never in a car.I tried to go up in my A in the mid-70's,but they wouldn't let me go.My brakes were great,but there had been some icing issues,and there was a lot of loose sand on the pavement.I did have rock hard Allstate tires,(Garfields),and it didn't take much to lock them up on bare pavement,never mind sand.My friend has a picture of three of us on motorcycles parked in front of one of the blue and white Travelalls they used as busses.They had huge brake drums on those things.We saw some Suburbans too,but the Travelall was the only truck standing still long enough for us to get a picture of.My friend got pictures of the brakes on those trucks too.I would not get in one of those trucks for a ride up.Those drivers were a bunch of nuts.All three of us had bought new motorcycles in the summer of 73 and we used them pretty hard that year.I still had the water decal saying,this car climbed Mount Washington on the rear fender of my 72 Honda 350 that I rode up there.I lost the bike in 2020 when my house burned.That road looks a LOT different than it did the last time I went up it.
 
Ya, the last time I went up was about 4 years ago, and it was nicely paved. Still doesn't mean I would go faster up or down than 15 MPH.

For those of you who don't know, Mount Washington is the highest mountain in New Hampshire. It is an 8-mile road at 6,288 feet, with the lowest wind chill temperature of −108.4°F, and at one time had the highest wind speed, setting a world record until 1996 at 231 mph, with about 160 deaths.
 
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I'll see your Mt Washington and raise you a Toronado on Pikes Peak!:D

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I remember riding up Pikes Peak with my Dad in my coupe as a 1st grader. Now I realize that he must have used 2nd going up and down.
 
Mt Washington is a huge ice climbing destination and many go there to train for higher mountains out west or in Europe or Nepal. Big number of the deaths are in Huntington and Tuckerman Ravines where the ice climbing takes place. I climbed there when I was in my 20’s.
 
In 2021 The New Hampshire Lakes Region Model A Club hosted M.A.F.C.A National tour in North Conway, NH. One of the tour destinations was a ride up Mount Washington where 30 Model A's out of the tour ventured up and down. for the most part it is 1st gear up and 1st gear down. In 2017 we also hosted the New England Meet and had a number of A's make the trek up and down. One participant lost their timing gear on the way down and let the car go down with just engine compression in 1st. Unfortunately they learned that without a timing gear the oil pump doesnt pump and the melted their babbit on the rods and mains.
 
If you’re a fan of old mechanical engineering check out The Mt. Washington Cog Railway. Built about 70 years before the Model A, it deals with the lack of traction of steel wheels on steel tracks via a metal rack between the rails with the locomotive locking into it with a corresponding pinion. Still in operation by both steam and biodiesel. The steam locomotive’s boiler is elevated above the rear of the chassis so it sits more or less level on the hill.
Check Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_Cog_Railway
 
The hikers who ascend the mountain, like my wife, do not like the steam train because of the pollution.

The most dangerous part of a locomotive boiler is at the rear where the firebox is. When locomotive is on the level, the boiler must be kept full to the top with water so that the steel in the rear does not get too hot and fail under the pressure. It looks like the boiler may be especially designed to address this problem.
 
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